Anyone who has passed through an airport in North America will have almost certainly have encountered the travel-essential retailer known as Hudson News.

Founded by Isaac Cohen in 1917 as a newsstand in New Jersey’s Bayonne, the company initially known as Hudson County News got into the airport space after taking over a contract from a bankrupt newspaper and magazine shop at Newark Liberty International Airport in 1980.

Even as sales of physical publications continued to nosedive with the rise of technology from the 2010s onwards, Hudson Group was able to keep up with the market by leaning into the sale of snacks, toiletries, and other travel essentials while also securing several contracts for duty-free sales. The company was first listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the HUD ticker in 2018 and merged with Swiss duty-free operator Dufry AG in 2020.

Dufry continues to at least ostensibly remain on solid financial footing (the company secured an 11-year contract to open more stores at JFK’s Terminal 8 earlier this fall, Duty Free News International reported).

Still, one airport in Florida is set to lose all of its Hudson News locations as it undergoes a major terminal renovation into 2028.

Orlando International Airport to close all Hudson News stores, cut 44 jobs

As first reported by the Orlando Sentinel, all six of the Hudson News stores at Orlando International Airport (MCO) across Terminals A and B will be shut down by either January or February of 2026.

While Orlando also has the newer Terminal C, opened in 2022, it does not offer a Hudson News location.

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This means the busiest airport in Florida by passenger traffic will be left without a single Hudson News store. It will also result in the loss of 44 jobs across the six stores.

As part of the $6 billion modernization plan of over 200,000 square feet of space, the revamped terminals secured a new contract with a yet-to-be-specified operator of airport snacks and travel essentials.

Orlando International Airport is currently undergoing a $6 billion overhaul of its two main airports.

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“The concessions contract is transitioning to a new operator”: Hudson News

“The concessions contract is transitioning to a new operator,” a Hudson representative told the Orlando Sentinel. “During this process, we are prioritizing our employees and actively working to connect impacted team members with opportunities with the new operator.”

Some of the brands already confirmed to be present in the two terminals of MCO after the renovations are complete include South Florida food chains Southern Smokehouse and Otto’s High Dive, as well as bookstore and newsstand chains Adjectives, Orange Appeal, and Writer’s Block Bookstore.

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Hudson Group, meanwhile, currently operates over 1,000 stores in 90 airports across the United States and Canada. These include full stores having multiple sections for books, magazines, snacks, and travel essentials as well as grab-and-go snack stands and duty-free and retail shops operated under the wider Hudson portfolio.

These closures are specific to the overhaul of the terminals and a change in contracts; no shop closures have been reported at airports in locations other than Orlando .

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